River Dragon
by Soundless Memory
Summary: AU. Kurogane was leading a regular life in Kitakaze City after his homeland, Suwa, had been destroyed. But when a mysterious boy named Ginryuu tells him he is once again in danger, he is forced to escape with Tomoyo onto a ship ran by the eccentric Captain Fluorite. Meanwhile, Sakura and Syaoran try to recover their ravaged city. Rated T for dark themes and some violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or its characters.**

 **Author's Notes: Here's chapter 1! It was Originally written for Kurogane Week over on tumblr, which is why the first chapter's so short. The story actually originated simply because I wanted to write a Pirate/Sailing AU focusing on Kurogane and Fai. There's not really any pairings in this except for slight SyaoSaku and TouYuki.**

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River Dragon ~ Chapter 1

Kurogane walked down the paved road leading to his house in Kitakaze Port City, scowling as the cold wind stung his face despite his warm attire. It had been eight years since he had fled to Kitakaze, having lost his homeland of Suwa to a mysterious flood when he was ten years old. He wasn't overly fond of the place, it was much noisier and more crowded than Suwa had been, but it did have the advantage of not being a floating ruin, which certainly made getting a job and finding a place to stay easier.

It had taken Kurogane a while to adjust to the advanced technology of the city- 'automobiles' and 'telephones' seemed to be everywhere- but he found it a worthwhile effort, even if he still refused to drive anywhere he could realistically walk to. If nothing else, he had grown relatively fond of the radio- it made following the news much easier, and the 'radio shows' it played could be surprisingly entertaining.

The only other thing Kurogane could say he liked about the bitterly cold and damp, boisterous city was his neighbors. To the right of his house was the Kinomoto family, where he got along relatively well twelve-year old Sakura and her brother. Across the street was the eccentric Li family, whose only sane member seemed to be the young, occasionally moody Syaoran. And a few blocks down was where Yukito Tsukishiro lived, running a small cafe. Kurogane would occasionally wonder how someone his age was able to run a company by himself, and seemed to lack any sort of family connections, but never asked about it.

Sitting now in his living room, Kurogane got up and went about angrily making some coffee. He hadn't had a great day at work, and he still had to repay that overly energetic sea merchant Naga for helping him last week. He had been repairing various small boats and ships as usual when his last spare rudder snapped clean in two. He had to have the ship he was working on finished within the hour, and because of Kitakaze's poor economy he hadn't the money to buy another one. Naga, being the kindhearted, pushy salesmen that he was, agreed to give him a new free of charge if Kurogane repaid the debt within the same month. Not having the time to find an ulterior solution, Kurogane had agreed.

Kurogane now had the means to repay the annoying merchant, and intended to keep his word, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. He bitterly drank his bitter coffee, irritated that he would have to go back out into the cold after already having a tiring, annoying day. He was just about to finally get up and get it over with when there was a knock on his door. Looking through the eye-hole on the door, he saw it was none other than Tomoyo Daidouji, whose family had taken him in during his third week in Kitakaze.

"What do you want?" Kurogane asked, opening the door. Tomoyo smiled up at him.

"I was wondering if you would go shopping with me! Sakura-chan is going to be in a school play soon, and I simply must make her costume for her! And who better to be my shopping assistant than you, Kurogane?" she said happily, a slightly mischievous look in her eyes. Kurogane sighed. Tomoyo always loved dragging him around and making him do things with he'd would never do otherwise, and she was even harder to say no to when she was talking about her crush, Sakura. That, and her parents only allowed her to travel without swarms of deadly bodyguards following her if Kurogane was with her (in which case only a few body guards were needed).

"I don't have time for that today, I have to go hunt down a sea merchant, and then I am coming home and staying home." he said grumpily, annoyed not at Tomoyo but the cold air coming in from the open door. Tomoyo didn't seem phased at all by his refusal- she never was.

"Well then I'll accompany you! I know how much you hate the cold, and strangers, so we'll go together and then shop for Sakura-chan!" she said just as brightly. Kurogane could already see there was no winning this argument.

"Do what you like." he said, walking past her and in the direction of the sea-port. Tomoyo knew this to mean she had won, and followed after him.

The port was as busy as ever, people trying to rent boats, shopping at various booths, taking in the sights, and who knows what else. The sun shone dimly in the west, hazed over by the fog that always seemed to permeate around the shore. Kurogane wondered how Tomoyo could look so chipper in such a loud, gloomy place. Eventually, they found the young merchant they were looking for.

"Oy, remember me?" Kurogane asked, approaching the brown-haired youth with the outrageously huge sword (which sadly was not for sale, despite looking too big for the kid to even use). The merchant looked up him.

"Sure do! You were the cranky fellow in need of a rudder. Good to see you haven't changed much. Who's your friend?" he said, as aggravatingly energetic as Kurogane remembered.

"My name is Tomoyo Daidouji, pleased to meet you! I do hope my friend didn't give you too much trouble." she said politely, though there was a definite hint of a smirk on her face as well.

"Nope! Pleasure to meet you to, the name's Naga. You here to pay back the debt, or are you out of stuff again? Cause I'm not gonna keep giving you free stuff if you never pay back." Naga said, turning back to Kurogane, who just scowled.

"Here's your money. Is that enough?" he said. Naga looked at the money and grinned.

"That should do it! Come again some time, and that goes for your friend too!" he said happily. Tomoyo laughed and Kurogane scowled some more, but said nothing. That problem was now dealt with. Now to go home and hide from Tomoyo, who still had that shopper's glint in her eye. He was about to say something as they walked away back towards the city when Tomoyo interrupted him.

"Oh, I just remembered! Mother asked me to buy some fish while I was out for the maids to cook with, would you mind waiting just a moment? I'll be back quickly." she said.

"Sure. Whatever." he replied, despite not actually wanting to stay out there any longer than necessary. He watched Tomoyo run off with her bodyguards close behind before turning to view the near shore. There were some pretty big ships docked at the pier today, one he recognized as the M.S. Jaatikko, a ship ran by the infamously eccentric Captain Fai Fluorite. Kurogane had never met the man in person, but such an odd mixture of rumors about the captain made him wonder if maybe he should.

The shoreline seemed the same as ever, so Kurogane was about to go look for Tomoyo himself when something odd caught his eye. The water only a few yards away from dry land seemed to bubble somewhat before something- no, someone, that was definitely a human head- emerged out of the water. Kurogane stared in shock as boy who appeared to be only slightly older than Syaoran walked calmly out of the water, not gasping for air at all; the kid didn't even look slightly perturbed by being underwater so long (it had to have been a while, Kurogane hadn't seen him enter the water and he had been waiting for Tomoyo a good couple of minutes now).

But what was even stranger about the boy than his inexplicable state of calm was his physical appearance. Even from a slight distance, Kurogane could tell the boy had skin that was a light shade of silver, a long, unkempt mane of golden hair, and most importantly, deep red eyes - a trait almost exclusive to people native to Suwa. The boy stood a few moments on the sand, looking almost confused, before looking directly at Kurogane and smiling. He wore a simple short sleeved black shirt and shorts, and grey boots with golden marking on them- it was a wonder he wasn't frozen over in this weather wearing such light clothes.

Kurogane approached the stranger in a state of stunned wonder. No one else approached the strange looking kid, or even seemed to be able to see him. Kurogane didn't think he was hallucinating, he had no reason not to trust his senses, but that didn't the feeling he had that no else even could see the boy- there were people who could make themselves invisible, after all, even though Kurogane had never heard anyone make themselves selectively invisible.

"What were you doing in the water?" was what Kurogane asked once he was standing directly in front of the silver-skinned boy.

"Under the water? Well, I was…I was swimming, wasn't I?" the boy said. He spoke calmly, his voice neither very high nor very low pitched, in a way that conveyed less confusion than his words.

"How long were you under there?" Kurogane demanded. The boy smiled sweetly.

"I think a long time. But I'm on land now. Can I ask your name?" he said.

"It's Kurogane. Who are you, and what do you know about a place called Suwa?" Kurogane asked. As far as he knew, he was the last survivor of Suwa. And though this boy had red eyes, no one else in Suwa had had silver skin or blond hair.

"Suwa? It was an island, and a good place, but it's not around anymore. My name is Ginryuu. Are you busy today?" Ginryuu asked. Kurogane stared extra hard after hearing his name- it was the same as the guardian spirit that was said to protect Suwa before it fell.

"Are you _from_ Suwa? And why am I the only one who seems to see you?" he said, ignoring the boy's last question.

"You're the only one who can see me? You shouldn't stay here anymore. You should come with me. It's not safe anymore, will you come with me?" Ginryuu said, suddenly very serious. His eyes seemed now to belong to someone older than a mere fifteen years of age. Kurogane knew he should probably leave the crazy stranger alone, but something about him seemed familiar- other than his name, that is.

"Look, where are your parents? And what do you mean it's not safe anymore here?" Kurogane said, sick of having to ask so many questions but equally tired of not knowing anything about what _could_ be a link to his past.

"My meaning should be clear, Kurogane. If a place is not safe, you and your friends could get hurt by being there. Thus, I would be happy if you came with me." he said, looking up at him sadly and extending his hand. Kurogane was just pissed off.

"Listen here, you cheeky little brat, either you give me some straight answers, or I'll-" he started, before being cut off by someone.

"Kurogane, who are you yelling at? I've been looking everywhere for you, you must be freezing over here by the water! We can go back now, and warm up, alright? Why did you come over here?" Tomoyo asked, looking slightly concerned. It was only then Kurogane realized that not only was he absolutely freezing, but the ocean had sprayed a bunch of mist on him so he was wet too. He glared angrily at Ginryuu.

"You and your friend should really leave." the silver-skinned boy said sadly before turning and walking away. Kurogane turned to Tomoyo.

"I'll explain when we get back to my place. You're going to get wet too if we just stand here." he said. Tomoyo agreed, and they were soon on their way back to Kurogane's house. The whole trip back, they were silent, Tomoyo not sure what was bothering Kurogane, and Kurogane trying both to process everything that had just happened and how he was going to explain it to Tomoyo. As they approached his house once more, Kurogane couldn't help but sigh. It was going to be a long night.

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 **Author's Notes: That's it! The pacings a little off, but hopefully you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa or any of its characters.**

 **Author's Notes: I finally finished chapter 2! Sorry for taking so long between updates, but this chapter is at least twice the length of the first one so hopefully that makes up for it a bit. ^_^" You get see a lot more of the characters in this one, hopefully they're all relatively in character, it's been a little while since I properly read Tsubasa.**

River Dragon ~ Chapter 2

Kurogane sat across from Tomoyo, warm mugs of tea in their hands the only thing to fight the cold, the sound of rain splattering the windows the only sound. It hadn't taken long to tell everything that had happened while they had been separated, but Tomoyo had listened intently the whole time and now seemed to be deep in thought. After a few moments, she spoke.

"That truly is a strange tale... can you tell me again what Ginryuu-san said when you asked about your homeland?" she asked politely.

"Not much, really, he was pretty evasive about answering any of my questions. Just said that it was nice and that it was destroyed, both of which I already knew. He outright switched the subject when I asked if he was from the place." Kurogane replied grumpily.

"I see... Kurogane, while I'm sure much of what happened earlier seemed strange, I think the only worrying part is that Ginryuu-san chose you _specifically_ out of everyone at the harbor to warn about this supposedly oncoming danger." Tomoyo said seriously. Kurogane raised an eyebrow.

"I thought that was strange too, but I thought you might be more worried about the fact a _mage_ seems convinced something bad is going to happen to the city. He could be a dream seer of sorts, after all." he said. Magic was an extremely rare gift, usually less than a hundred people were born with such an ability each generation, so those with the gift were generally either revered or feared by the general populace. Dream seers were even rarer, and because their power was considered so enviable, most wound up being paid hefty sums of money by the government's agents. Kurogane's mother had been a dream seer, and Tomoyo had some magic as well, so Kurogane was more accustomed to being around magic users than most; but it also meant he knew firsthand that you should never doubt an honest dream seer.

"I'm not sure what to make of the warning, even dream seers are capable of lying. What I don't understand is why anyone would go through the trouble of becoming invisible, possibly altering their physical appearance, and going by an alias just to give you a potentially false warning. Even so, I would keep an eye out for anything else odd." Tomoyo said.

"You think even his name was fake? You've been listening to your paranoid sister again, haven't you?" Kurogane replied, slightly irritated by the thought of Kendappa. At this, Tomoyo actually laughed.

"Perhaps. I can only guess, after all, having not been there myself. I admit I find the sudden appearance of Ginryuu-san just as mysterious as you do. But even though I recommend caution, I also wouldn't lose sleep over it. Maybe tomorrow you can ask Yukito-san about it, he knows a lot about this sort of thing after all." she said brightly. Kurogane just shook his head.

"Yeah, maybe I'll talk to the guy. At any rate, you should probably get going. You wanted to shop for Sakura, right? And your annoying sister always gets on my case when you come home late." he said bitterly, making Tomoyo laugh again.

"Alright, alright, I'll go. I was going to have you come with, but I suppose after getting soaked by the ocean you won't want to go out into the rain. Please have a good night, and light a fire if you can. See you tomorrow!" she said happily as Kurogane lead her to the door.

"Yeah. And make sure you're home before dark." he told her as she left. Staring after her, he found himself wondering why all of his personal confidants were twelve year olds.

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto was cleaning the dishes after enjoying dinner with her family. Her father, Fujitaka, was an amazing cook and was currently helping clean and organize the kitchen. Her mother, Nadeshiko, was working with her older brother Touya to tidy up the living room before beginning their piano practice.

Just as she was finishing up, she heard a knock at the door. She ran into the living room just as Nadeshiko answered the door.

"Of course. Come in," she heard her mother say, and she instantly felt happiness spread throughout her at the sight of her friend, Syaoran, entering the room. They had been friends for a few years now, having met at school one day before quickly becoming athletic rivals. However, it didn't take long for that rivalry to turn into a friendly rivalry, and from there to proper close friends.

"Syaoran-kun! How are you doing?" Sakura said happily, running to meet him. He smiled back at her, ignoring the look of disapproval being sent his way by Touya.

"I'm doing alright. I, um, came to do some homework with you, and to ask some questions." Syaoran said, inwardly cursing his lack of social smoothness; he should have asked how she was doing in return.

"Great! Thanks for coming over! We can start our homework in my room, I just need to finish a few things in the kitchen first." She said.

"Sakura, you go ahead with Syaoran, your father and I can handle the rest of the kitchen." Her mother said kindly.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, not wanting to burden her family if possible.

"Of course. Your work is more important, and it'd be rude of us to keep Syaoran-kun waiting." Nadeshiko said.

"Alright! Thanks, Mom!" Sakura said, then ran up to her room with Syaoran.

Once in her bedroom, they pulled out their math and history homework. Neither were particularly good at math, but they were able to help each other with the parts one understood better than the other. And Syaoran struggled with history because he would often have to resort to a language-to-language dictionary for words he didn't understand. Once they were about half way through their work, Sakura looked up at Syaoran with slight concern and curiosity.

"Syaoran-kun, before when you first came in, you said you wanted to ask me some questions; what were they?" she asked. Syaoran usually only held back information it was bad news, and if he didn't want to say it in front of the rest of her family, then it must have something to do with the Underground.

"Right. Lately, there's been a lot of unusual activity going on within the city; people going missing, Signs showing up without any apparent cause or reason; that sort of thing." He started. Sakura knew this already of course; it was impossible to be part of the Underground without knowing it.

"Yes; what about it?" she asked, prompting the seemingly hesitant Syaoran to reply.

"Well, I was wondering…how much do you know about Tsuyuri?" he asked.

"Tsuyuri-chan? Not much; she goes to a different school than us, and is really quiet, but she's been nice to me and a really helpful member of the Underground. Why?" she inquired, uncertain as to how this connected to the strange occurrences of Kitakaze.

"Well, she recently got a lead on the disappearances, but I don't know if we should trust her, not without knowing more about her first. Also, um…one of our own went missing recently, too. Ashura. He's missing now. He was last seen three days ago near the shore, staring out into the distance." He said glumly. Sakura was shocked.

"What!? Ashura-kun too? What are these people after!?" she yelled in frustration; she was angry at who or whatever was causing all of these problems, and was determined to put a stop to it no matter what.

"I don't know; that's what I wanted to talk to you about. How should we go about investigating?" Syaoran said, more calm than his friend but just as uncertain.

"We need to talk to the others! If they don't know what to do, then we need to investigate on our own. We'll definitely put a stop to this and bring back Ashura-kun and the others!" she said stubbornly. Syaoran couldn't help but smile; Sakura was always stubborn and full of initiative, he didn't doubt she _would_ be the one to catch the culprit. Of course, that same determination could be dangerous at times, which is why he was going to everything he could to aid her, even if it meant investigating without the help or approval of the others.

"Right. But…before that, we need to finish this history." Syaoran said, looking at his homework with mingled excitement and dread. He loved learning history, but reading it in a different language was a right pain.

"Oh, um, right. This assignment is due tomorrow, I wouldn't want you to miss points because of me!" Sakura said, and they spent the rest of the evening doing homework and eating snacks.

* * *

The enemy was evasive. Slippery. Kurogane had always prized his skill with the sword, even if there was no use for it in Kitakaze, but this was an enemy no amount of battle skills could possible defeat. The enemy was Sleep.

Kurogane really hated insomnia. Worse than he hated even having nightmares that woke him up in the middle of the night. So as his luck would have it, he'd been suffering on and off from bouts of it ever since he came to Kitakaze. Even though it had been years since his homeland was destroyed, he still found himself lying awake restlessly at night, and even having nightmares about it at times.

Finally deciding that if wasn't going to get sleep anyways, he might as well use the extra time to _do_ something, he walked out of his room and into the kitchen. Turning on the light, he went about making himself some tea, for that often had at least a calming effect even if it didn't always help go to sleep.

Then he walked into the living room. And he turned on the light. And then he nearly dropped the tea he was holding and jumped several feet backwards in surprise. For there, on his couch, looking up at him with an insultingly innocent, confused look on his face, was Ginryuu.

"What is it? You seem really scared of something." Ginryuu said, and Kurogane couldn't tell if he was being genuine or sarcastic. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before glaring daggers at the boy in his living room.

"Get out of my house." He said sternly. Ginryuu continued to look at him with those mysteriously red eyes, but didn't make any indication that he was actually going to do as Kurogane ordered, or even move at all for that matter.

"I wanted to talk to you. Here, there are fewer people to overhear you talking to yourself." Ginryuu said.

"Why would you make yourself invisible to everyone else, and also, you're still not out of my house." Kurogane said, instantly irritated by the silver-skinned boy but also extremely curious. He _did_ need to know if this person was a threat to him, anyone he knew, or the city in general after all.

"Oh, we can talk outside then. But first, will you lend me your coffee? It's cold outside." Ginryuu said. This was getting ridiculous. But he didn't have time to argue with the kid either.

"You get hot water, nothing else." He said grumpily, shoving a mug of plain hot water into the boy's hands. Ginryuu looked down at it in discontent.

"That…is very cruel of you, Kurogane. I've been in the water and the rain all day. Why would I want more of it?" he said, even as started to drink it and follow Kurogane out into the street in front of his house.

"Shut up." Kurogane replied, and then, once they were outside, "Explain." Ginryuu smiled at him.

"You're not very talkative, are you? That's fine. All I really wanted to say was what I said before; you should leave with as many people as you can." He said. Kurogane sighed in frustration. This kid was impossible.

"Why should I do that if you won't tell me why I should leave? You could be making things up. And you still haven't answered any of my earlier questions." Kurogane said.

"You should leave because this place is in danger. It most likely won't be around much longer. I can't do anything to stop it, and neither can you. As for your other questions… I'm only visible to you because the others don't have the capability to see me. Magic users can sense me, but I don't know if they can see me. If you're wondering how I know the city is danger, I can't tell you because I don't understand it myself. It's just something I'm completely certain of. As for what's endangering it, all I can say is that I've been dreaming of water lately, floods to be specific. So it might have something to do with that. There's nothing else I can say. Will you please leave?" Ginryuu explained. Kurogane had listened intently to everything the boy had said with a passive expression on his face, but he was actually quite disconcerted by what he heard, as well as annoyed at how unsatisfying the explanation had been.

"So basically, you're dream seer whom, for reasons completely unknown to you, are only visible to my eyes. And you've dreamt of the city we're in being destroyed by a flood. So you're warning me because no else can hear you. Is that it?" he asked.

"Exactly. Now you've got it. So you'll leave?" Ginryuu replied hopefully.

"Nope. Even dream seers only see a possible future. If I inform the government here, they'll be able to their magic users to prevent a flood from happening. Thanks for the advice. Now go away." He said, ignoring Ginryuu's crestfallen expression and walking back into his house.

Truthfully, Kurogane only half believed what he had told Ginryuu. There were still so many questions he had; who and what was Ginryuu, why could he breathe underwater, how had he snuck into Kurogane's house without him noticing, and why was he invisible to everyone else. He couldn't even say with certainty the kid was a dream seer, though that seemed the most likely case. He also seemed to have at least partial amnesia, since his almost constant confusion as to what's happening around him seemed genuine.

He could tell the government a dream seer had predicted the city's destruction just as a precaution, but then they would want to know _which_ dream seer, since any dream seer in the country was required to register for the government in case of an emergency, and he couldn't tell them he received himself from an invisible magician; they'd think he was either making it up or lying to protect Ginryuu.

Immensely frustrated at his lack of answers and lack of options, but even angrier at the sense of anxiety building within him at the thought of Kitakaze flooding, he decided to force himself to attempt to sleep, hoping he'd be able to think clearer after some rest.

* * *

The sun rose brightly in the east, covering the city in a cold, gentle light. Yukito Tsukishiro was already up and fully dressed despite the early hour, preparing for opening hours at his café. Yukito always loved mornings, the air was so fresh and the dining room was peacefully quiet and well-lit without the aid of electricity.

As he was eating his abnormally large breakfast, he heard the bell ring as someone came in, though Yukito knew who it was even before he looked up from his meal; only one person had the key to get in before the café was open.

"Morning, Yuki. Here's the record you lent me." Touya Kinomoto said, passing a music record to Yukito over the counter.

"Good Morning, Toya! You can put the record over there on the counter. It's almost time for the shop to open, do you want anything to drink?" Yukito replied happily.

"No thanks. I was actually wondering if you wanted any help running the place today, since a lot of places are closed on the weekend so more people come to places like this." Touya said.

"Ah, but don't you have other things you have to do today?" Yukito asked.

"Not until this evening, which is about the time you close shop anyways. It's almost opening time, I'll get the coffee ready if that's alright, then." Touya replied. Yukito couldn't help but smile; Touya was always so kind, and a true joy for him spend time with.

"Alright, thanks for the help!" he said, and Touya gave a small smile in return.

It was a few hours later when Yukito saw his neighbor, Kurogane, come in through the door looking nearly as indifferent as ever, only a bit more exhausted or perhaps wary. Yukito liked Kurogane well enough; they got along well, even though Kurogane didn't usually share much about himself. All Yukito really knew about him was that he was from Suwa, worked as a ship repairman, and had been living in Kitakaze for the last eight years. During those eight years they would often see each other and somewhat regularly conversed, so even though Yukito knew so little about him he considered him his friend.

"Hey, Yukito. I'll have a coffee, same as usual." Kurogane said as he took a seat at the counter.

"Sure thing, Kurogane-san. Are you alright, by the way? You look a little tired." Yukito said.

"I'm alright, just didn't sleep much. Though there were a few things I wanted to ask you about if you have the time." Kurogane replied.

"Sure! Toya's helping me today, and it isn't too busy yet, so I can spare a few minutes. What did you want to ask?" Yukito said.

"You know a little bit about sorcery, right? Well, I was wondering if you knew anything about a type of person who could make themselves or someone else invisible to only certain people? Any spells you know that could do that?" Kurogane asked. Yukito mentally took this as a sign something _was_ wrong, since that was a pretty specific question to ask, but he knew better than to pry in other people's business uninvited.

"There a number of invisibility spells out there, I think there is one that can do what you described, but the caster would have to be extremely powerful to do so; a regular invisibility spell is hard enough, it would take years of training to do a specialized one." Yukito said.

"How about a spell that lets you breathe underwater? And one that can erase memories?" Kurogane said, perfectly aware of how suspicious he was beginning to sound, but equally aware that Yukito both trusted and respected him enough not to pry or judge him for it.

"Both of those are able to be done by many experienced sorcerers as well, though erasure of memory is illegal in most countries without express direction from within the government." Yukito said, barely hiding his growing concern.

"Alright. Also, do you know anything about the government's policy towards anonymous tips?" Kurogane said, finally having the decency to look somewhat awkward at all the questions he was asking.

"Well, it depends what type of anonymous tip. More often than not, though, they research the tip since it could be from someone involved in the crime." Yukito said.

"Okay. Thanks for that. I have to get going now. The coffee was good by the way." Kurogane said, getting up to leave.

"Oh, thank you for coming. And, Kurogane…" Yukito started. Kurogane looked back at him.

"What?" he prompted.

"If you ever are in any trouble, or just need someone to talk to, you can always come see me here, even after hours." Yukito said, smiling sadly at him. Kurogane blinked, not entirely sure how to respond at first; sentimentality wasn't exactly his specialty.

"…Yeah." Was all he said, then he was gone.

* * *

Returning to the port, Kurogane looked about the shoreline, trying to decide what to do next. If he called the police and said or even implied he had been in contact with a dream seer, then he would be investigated for sure. At the same time, if Ginryuu said was true, he couldn't let everyone stay here either. But as it was, he didn't know what he could do or say to convince the city to evacuate in a timely manner. He didn't even know if he should trust Ginryuu, though the thought of him being right and not getting the chance to do anything about it this time was intolerable.

Looking at the ocean, it did seem that the tide was just a little unusual, too calm to be leading to anything other than a storm; though that could be his paranoia talking. But no, the tide _was_ unusually high, anyone could see that much, but was that really enough to prove what Ginryuu said was true?

Deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry, he walked up to the M.S. Jaatikko with the intent to buy as many tickets as he could afford in case an escape was necessary. It was there that he got his first glance at the fabled Captain Fluorite. The captain wore an extremely elaborate, old fashioned looking out fit, though the part that stood out the most was his long, decorative blue coat and hat. His hair was wavy and pulled into a loose ponytail, and he had a face that looked so ridiculously carefree Kurogane wondered how this could possibly be the man known for going on some the wildest, most reckless journeys through the harsh sea ever recorded.

"Oy. How many tickets would this much money but me?" Kurogane said, walking straight up to the captain and holding out all the cash he had on him.

"Hm~? Oh! That would get you at least a good ten or twelve, though I can't really tell how much you have without taking a moment to count it all." Fluorite said, his voice as light and carefree as his face.

"Well then take the money and give me the tickets." Kurogane said.

"Can't~! There's only two tickets left, so I can only take enough money for those, I'm afraid." The captain said, sounding far too cheery to really be sorry at all. Kurogane instantly found the man extremely annoying.

"Why didn't you just say so in the _first_ place then!? Anyways, here's enough for two. Now hurry up and give me the tickets." Kurogane demanded. The captain then laughed in a way that pissed Kurogane off for no rational reason and quickly brought him some.

"Um…that's _three_ tickets." Kurogane said, glaring at the captain.

"Yes." Fluorite said, never ceasing to smile brightly at him.

"You said there were only two tickets left." Kurogane stated, annoyed that he even had to explain what the issue here was.

"Well, I figured you were buying one for yourself and one for a friend, but that friend of yours will probably need one too, don't you think~?" Fluorite said, and his smile was starting to creep Kurogane out a little now.

"What friend of mine?" Kurogane asked, but Captain Fluorite just laughed and pointed behind him. He looked around and nearly panicked again at the sight of Ginryuu standing behind him, though it wasn't quite as shocking as when he'd shown up in his living room.

"What are you doing he – wait a second. You can see this guy?" he said suspiciously to Captain Fluorite.

"Well, not _exactly_ ~, I just sense him. But even if the others can't see him, he'll still need a ticket, don't you think?" Fluorite said.

"Uh…sure. But won't people notice a floating boat ticket?" Kurogane asked.

"Who knows?" Fluorite said happily. Kurogane seriously wanted to punch him now. He was being deliberately unhelpful.

"Kurogane, it's…it's going to start now." Ginryuu said sadly, distracting Kurogane for a moment from his one-sided glaring contest with the captain.

"What!? What do you mean it's going to –?" Kurogane yelled, but was interrupted as a huge wave hit the side of the boat, completely soaking many of the people on ground level. Only now did Kurogane realize just how much the water had risen while he had been talking. Panic pulsed through him; he had to get to Tomoyo and the others, bring them with!

"Keep the boat here, you smiley idiot! I'll be right back with more passengers!" Kurogane yelled, running back onto the port. Just as he had reached ground level, however, Ginryuu grabbed him around the waist, trying to prevent him from leaving.

"Kurogane, you must escape! Escape with Captain Fluorite! _Please!_ " Ginryuu yelled, for once actually sounding nearly as young as he appeared.

"Not without the others!" Kurogane yelled back, struggling against the kid's surprisingly strong grip.

"Kurogane!" he heard some yell, and looked up in shock to see Tomoyo running towards him, soaking wet.

"Tomoyo! Get on board quickly! Do you know where the others are!?" he asked urgently, grabbing her hand and helping her onto the ship.

"They're still in their houses, but they'll be arriving shortly! We both need to stay on board, the others are all evacuating with help from the government; too many people would just get in the way." Tomoyo said, her voice ridden with anxiety as she helped Ginryuu drag Kurogane back onto the ship. Kurogane probably would have been able to the reason behind her words if he had been in an even slightly ration state; but he wasn't. For the city he was looking at was no longer Kitakaze, but his own Suwa.

- _Everywhere there was rubble, people screaming, drowning, he couldn't tell where he was, was too disoriented, there was too much noise, "Mother! Father! Where are you!" he screamed, unable to hear his own voice over the roaring wind and waves. He saw a lone boat drifting through the water and rushed towards, trying to avoid breathing in water as it came over him in erratic splashes, hurrying as fast as he could, crying out over and over for anyone he might know, anyone was still living, but he couldn't hear it, there too much noise, too much sound, too much –_

"I'm afraid I have to please calm yourself, Sir." He heard someone say, and suddenly he couldn't keep thrashing and struggling despite his attempts to. "I have to get this ship away, and I can't have you endangering anyone else aboard it." The same voice said, and he finally realized that it was Captain Fluorite speaking, only his voice sounded different from before and his expression was much colder.

Unable to move, Kurogane was only able to stand and watch in horror as he once again sailed away from a broken, flooded island that he had called home. He couldn't stand to think of poor Sakura and Syaoran, and Touya and Yukito who had so kindly offered him friendship without asking anything in return, and everyone else who had been in that city. Tomoyo and Ginryuu were both still beside him, but he barely even noticed their presence as watch the broken form of Kitakaze growing smaller and smaller in the distance.

 **Author's Notes: Well, that's chapter 2! Let me know what you think!**


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